Possessing a gruff, husky howl that belies his age and young cherubic looks, Dan Owen may hail from a farm in Shropshire, but his music is steeped in dusty American highways and hard travelling Delta blues traditions.

He initially took up the guitar at the age of nine after a local musician performed at his school assembly and started giving him lessons. By 13 he was out playing open-mic nights around town with his older sister, but when she headed off to university he continued playing on his own, and took up a carpentry apprenticeship with the dream of becoming a guitar luthier. His life was changed though when a stray chunk of wood flew from a machine and lodged in his left eye, severing his retina. The workshop accident meant that he was unable to do the fine, detailed craftsmanship needed to complete his training, and so he threw himself completely into his music, playing every night he could, plotting his way through pubs in a 20-mile radius of Shrewsbury with his repertoire of Robert Johnson, Howlin' Wolf and Son House tunes.

He first played one of his own songs at his grandmother's funeral, but things really took off in 2011 when Mick Fleetwood spotted a video of him performing Bob Dylan's 'Ballad of Hollis Brown' and took him on tour with Fleetwood Mac and became an unofficial mentor. As things escalated, he suddenly went from small, rowdy pub gigs to recording with Grammy-winning producer Vance Powell and Black Crowes guitarist Luther Dickinson in Nashville; he later signed his first deal with Atlantic in 2016. Consciously adapting his style so as not to imitate his blues heroes, his early singles 'Moonlight' and 'Hideaway' were both soul-bearing, rootsy ballads, and his debut 2018 album 'Stay Awake With Me' drew comparisons with Paolo Nutini and James Morrison.

Dan Owen

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